In many computing scenarios, a user may express an interest in a set of data feeds relating to a particular topic. For example, a user may read a set of articles on a website about a particular topic, or may subscribe to a news website with a subscription request to be notified of new articles on a particular topic. Because many data sources (such as websites or newsgroups) may offer one or more data feeds (such as channels or sections of the website, or subgroups within a newsgroup), with each data feed offering many data items (such as articles or comments posted on the website, or replies posted to the newsgroup), a user may have to visit various data sources on a frequent basis in order to stay informed of commentary about the topic.
Some applications may be used to consolidate the data items of one or more data feeds, and may notify the user upon receiving a new data item. However, if each data feed comprises many data items, the user might have to review a large volume of data items, of which many might not pertain to topics of interest to the user. Moreover, the user may be reluctant to expand the number of data feeds that are followed, and may therefore miss some topically related data items of data feeds that the user has elected not to follow.